When my oldest son was a baby I swore that I would only ever make Halloween costumes. The whole buying of expensive costumes seemed ridiculous to me. Where was the creativity? Where was the fun? Making something original was the way to go!
Turns out, like so many other parenting ideas I held onto before I had actual kids, I only made costumes for a couple years. Making costumes isn’t easy, especially if you have very little sewing or crafting talent. Buying material for making costumes is also not cheap. And as my kids got older they usually wanted to be things for Hallloween that I could not possibly make… like Darth Vadar.
Here is a resource for ideas if you are intent on making your own Halloween costumes. Ideas for last minute costumes, no-sew, as well as material suggestions, just in case you have a big old cardboard box you want to use but don’t know quite what to do with. And of course Family Fun Magazine is always filled with ideas.
Speaking of costumes. How have your kids liked dressing up their cats and the Halloween themed fun at Handiland?
I too tried the “We are making our costumes this year” route. It was great until I added the cost and found it cheaper to just get the store bought ones. However, I have found that recycled costumes work amazingly well. this year, we are recycling 3 out of 5 costumes, with minor alterations to make them their own. Yes, the ninja, star wars, and mummies work best in the recycle tub, but they have fun going through and figuring out what can go with what. Last year, my vampire/ninja/ghost was the hit of the party. This year it’s Darth/Yoda/vampire. What will next year bring?
Comment by Claire — October 23, 2008 @ 12:44 pm
This is the first year that my children are going out. So since it’s probably the only time we decided on buying. So much easier for us than trying to make costumes at this late date.
Comment by Candace Hardy — October 25, 2008 @ 9:56 am
Family Fun always has clever ideas for homemade costumes. A lot of them ARE cheaper than buying from the store, although they often do depend on you having certain things already around the house.
Comment by Jennifer — October 29, 2008 @ 3:32 pm